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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Somerset Reporter (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909

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About The Somerset Reporter (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909

The Somerset Reporter was a significant newspaper published in northwest Maine’s rural Somerset County. Existing between 1868 and 1987 but going by the title Independent-Reporter between 1909 and 1955, the weekly was the hometown newspaper for communities from Mercer to Palmyra, Fairfield to Jackman, and based in Skowhegan, the county seat, known for shoe and paper mills along the Kennebec River.

Newspapers had been published in Somerset County beginning in 1823. The Reporter began in 1868 when Moses Littlefield sold the Republican Clarion to Colby College graduate and Civil War veteran Zembro Augustus Smith. The Clarion reprinted state and national news, but Smith changed the name and focused the Reporter on county and local news. Smith moved from the Water Street office to the old town hall, where the Reporter remained for 40 years, even through a fire in 1881.

The owners of the paper in 1870s were W.K. Moody, 1872-1875; C.H. Kilby and C.A. Woodbury, 1875-1878; and Joseph O. Smith (brother of Zembro) and his brother-in-law E.H. Mayo from 1878 on. J.O. Smith left the paper to become Maine’s Secretary of State between 1880 and 1885, but he returned, buying out Mayo in 1886 and remaining until his death in 1905.

Elmer E. McNeelie joined the Reporter as a printer’s apprentice in 1877, working his way up to writer, manager, and eventually proprietor in 1905.

Although other papers published concurrently, the first real challenge to the Republican Reporter came in 1892 with the Democratic Somerset Argus. The Reporter responded by adding a Monday edition to its regular Thursday edition, and then by buying out the Argus in 1895 and closing it two years later. The Reporter went back to one issue per week and lengthened each issue from four to eight pages.

Another challenge came from the short-lived Somerset Independent, owned and published by future U.S. Representative Clyde H. Smith. The offices and printing plant of the Independent were in adjacent buildings on Madison Street and Russell Street in Skowhegan. The Independent and the Reporter merged in 1909, absorbing another weekly, the Union Advocate, in the process. Publication of the Independent-Reporter began with vol. 1, no.1, September 9, 1909. C.H. Smith became president of the new Independent-Reporter Co.; McNeelie managed the business for another four years.

Roland T. Patten, who had started with the Reporter as a writer in 1903, was the controlling interest in the Independent-Reporter from 1913 until 1928. Patten left to edit a paper in Presque Isle, Maine, and then became secretary to C.H. Smith’s wife, U.S. Representative and Senator Margaret Chase Smith.

George Lane, James O’Kane, and James O’Brien bought the 16-page paper from Patten and hired Seth Rounds as editor and Francis Croteau as business manager. After eleven years, they sold to Lionel Foster, Harold Roff, and Harry Chase, all of Skowhegan. John Fysche was hired as editor.

The Independent-Reporter reverted its name to the Somerset Reporter in 1955 and moved its offices to Water Street in 1966. The Bangor Publishing Co., owner of the Bangor Daily News, bought the Reporter in 1967. They sold it to Joseph Myerson, owner and publisher at the new Somerset Reporter Co. in 1976. The Reporter ceased publication in 1987.

Provided By: Maine State Library

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Somerset Reporter (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909

Names

  • Smith, Joseph Otis, 1839-1905
  • Moody, William King, 1840-1902

Dates of Publication

  • 1868-1909

Created / Published

  • Skowhegan, Me. : Smith & Emery, 1868-1909.

Headings

  • -  Skowhegan (Me.)--Newspapers
  • -  Maine--Skowhegan
  • -  United States--Maine--Somerset--Skowhegan

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 27, no. 45 (Apr. 10, 1868)-v. 70, no. 35 (Sept. 2, 1909).
  • -  Editors: W.K. Moody, 1871-1875; J.O. Smith, 1878-1880.
  • -  Publishers: Smith & Emery, 1868-1870; Smith & Brown, 1870-1871; Moody & Emery, 1871-1872; W.K. Moody, 1872-1875; Kilby & Woodbury, 1875-1878; C.A. Woodbury, 1878; J.O. Smith, 1878; Smith & Mayo, 1878-1880.
  • -  "Independent Republican," <1876>.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Merged with: Somerset independent, and: Union advocate (North Anson, Me.), to form: Independent-reporter (Skowhegan, Me.).
  • -  Somerset independent (DLC)sn 96075124 (OCoLC)35451317
  • -  Union advocate (North Anson, Me.) (DLC)sn 84022524 (OCoLC)10462658
  • -  Independent-reporter (Skowhegan, Me.) (DLC)sn 96075050 (OCoLC)34600268

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84022565

OCLC Number

  • 10477127

ISSN Number

  • 2770-5080

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Somerset Reporter Skowhegan, Me. -1909. (Skowhegan, ME), Jan. 1 1868. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022565/.

APA citation style:

(1868, January 1) The Somerset Reporter Skowhegan, Me. -1909. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84022565/.

MLA citation style:

The Somerset Reporter Skowhegan, Me. -1909. (Skowhegan, ME) 1 Jan. 1868. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84022565/.